Shoring is often used aboard ships to support ruptured decks, to strengthen weakened bulkheads and decks, to build up temporary decks and bulkheads against the sea, to support hatches and doors, and to provide support for equipment that has broken loose.
The basic materials required for shoring are as follows: shores, wedges, sholes, and strongbacks. A shore is a portable beam. A wedge is a block, triangular on the sides and rectangular on the butt end. A shole is a flat block that may be placed under the end of a shore to distribute pressure. A strongback is a bar or beam of wood or metal that is used to distribute pressure or to serve as an anchor for a patch. The strongback is often shorter than a shore.
As a practical matter, shoring is a very difficult process. It is difficult to discern how long to cut various members and at what angles to cut them. Since about 1960, “The most rapid and accurate way to measure a shore for cutting is to use an adjustable shoring batten.” Damage Controlman, Naval Education and Training Publication 14057-PPR, 8-10 (2005), which is incorporated by reference. The Navy explains:
To use the shoring batten, extend it to the required length and lock it with the thumbscrews on the length locking device. Then measure the angles of cut by adjusting the hinged metal pieces at the ends of the batten. Lock the angle locking devices in place. Lay the batten along the shore. Mark and cut the timber to the proper length and angle. Shores should be cut one-half of an inch shorter than the measured length to allow space to install wedges.
The disadvantage with the currently used shoring batten in the Navy is that it must first be brought to the scene of damage to take the measurements and then must be transported back to a cutting station to trace the length and angles onto raw lumber for precise cutting. That same shoring batten must then be transported back to the scene of damage to take additional measurements. This process is time consuming and puts Sailors in danger as they continue to transit the ship while it is flooding, or taking enemy flooding.
The present invention teaches a method of using similarly calibrated devices in parallel in order to determine the length of shores and the angles to cut them. This way cut shoring can be brought to the scene without an intermediate step.